The Babbel Blog

Limits of the “Free” Internet

“Free” is the most important keyword on the World Wide Web. It implies “free of charge”. Babbel has been “free” in this sense for almost two years. More than 500,000 users have registered for the platform. Now, with the release of Babbel 2.0, we start charging. Why? Might this seem unfair? Shouldn’t the internet – and education in general – be free for all? So many other sites seem to show that this model works.

Our plan, in fact, was to partially finance Babbel with advertising. We intended to provide a “freemium” product that would have a basic version that was public, while providing additional premium content for those who might want to dig deeper. But now we see this just doesn’t work. It simply is not possible to build a high-quality online learning environment while simultaneously selling ad space effectively.We tried to bring these two objectives together. But ultimately we had to accept that a business model appropriate for social networks and news services is plain wrong when applied to online education.

Babbel is now one of the first online services to decisively abandon this antiquated idea of “free”. We certainly still want to make the world – or at least the internet – a better place, but we no longer think that we can do so using online advertising. In this (admittedly epic) blog postI’d like to give some background about our decision and some words on some related, internet-wide changes.

Free as in “Free Sharing” or as in “Freebie”?

The internet does provide a number of highly valuable things for free. Software such as the Linux operating system or the Mozilla browser belongsto this category, as well as some online encyclopedias and communities. It’s wonderful how many useful things you can find onlinethat are absolutely free. This is thanks to a combination of internet technology, on the one hand, and the selfless dedication and idealism of a great number of people all over the planet on the other.

But beyond these truly free services, there are a great number of websites, as well as search engines, freemail, and a good portion of online dictionaries and social networks, that are sponsored by ads. In contrast to Open Source software and Creative Commons, where developers and authors often work for free, ad-sponsored services are designed to make money – and they do.

What’s Wrong with Ads?

Of course, making money is not necessarily a bad thing. But ads can have drawbacks for users of these sites, some of which are obvious and some of which are not so apparent.

The most striking downside of advertising is the ads themselves. They have to attract attention, so they are flashy. They are constantly evolving to keep us from becoming immune to them. The objective is consistently to draw our attention away from other things like news or blog posts and to make us read, click and interact with more ad content and, ultimately, buy a product. Advertising’s main strategy is interruption. And interruption is what we at Babbel are trying to avoid.

Yet another aspect of online ads is that they don’t have to get everybody’s attention. They can focus on a specific target group. So besides making ads more attractive, promoters and engineers are working to “target” them to those who are most likely to respond (i.e. to buy). To do this, user data has to be collected, processed, and analyzed. This data analysis doesn’t harm people per se, but more and more internet users want to protect their privacy andare justifiably feeling uneasy about it. I must admit I feel a bit uneasy myself when I see how much it is possible to know about the users of your website when their personal data is what you’re after.

But there is another, more insidious, drawback of ad-sponsoring that is less visible to the naked eye: the true customers of these ad-sponsored services are not the users but rather the advertisers. And as everywhere else, the Customer is King. This means that these services are not optimized for the best use–value but for the best click–rates and advertising revenue. Of course, users need to be brought back to the website somehow in order to see the ads and to click on them… but that is just a means to another end.

Strictly Commercial

These downsides of ad-sponsoring are especially problematic in a learning application. If we want to build a new kind of learning environment that really works, we simply cannot let the learner’s attention consistently get drawn away. We don’t want to spend our engineering resources on ad targetting, but rather on improving the Refresher and Recommendation systems. Most of all, we need our customer to be the learner.

Our idea is to create a new kind of online learning system that adjusts itself to the needs of the learner and makes it easy to comprehend new subject matter without too much effort. This has yet to be done successfully, and we have no real role model we can emulate or by whom we can “be inspired”. It’s pioneering work, and it requires expertise to be constantly rethought and redone.

To significantly improve our service and to approach that user–centered learning environment we’re dreaming of, we’ve put together an extensive team of professionals from different disciplines. Software developers and internet specialists work side by side with more than 20 teachers and language experts. Simultaneously, we are striving to make this complex application easy to use and more or less imperceptible behind the content.

So yes, Babbel 2.0 is commercial. This means that we want to – and have to – make a living from of it. We’ve got some financing and loans, but ultimately, wehave to pay our own bills. And it seems that advertising is the wrong way to do this.

Because we deliver Babbel over the internet and don’t have so many variable costs per user, we can keep the price relatively low. Instead of charging more than a hundred Euros per product, as many learning software companies do, Babbel goes for a price of €4.95 to €8.95 per month. That’s affordable for anyone who wants to learn a new language. Also, we make it a point to have fair conditions. There are no hidden costs or implicit commitments. Users can cancel their membership at any time without any unpleasant surprises.

Internet Beyond the Advertising Industry: Will this be Web 3.0?

It’s clear that we are breaking a taboo. Many internet users think that all online services should be free. A lot of them will be angered by our change in strategy. But we’re convinced this will be the best way. As a matter of fact, we think it brings with it a lot of exciting opportunities.

As the internet plays an increasingly important role in all our lives, unreliable quality becomes more and more of an issue. If we use the internet for our basic everyday needs, we can’t afford to waste time comparing and verifying information and stitching together our own services. We need quality delivered steadily and without distraction. Again, this is especially true for online education.

This is why paid services have a great future. The demand for high-quality services and providers who don’t monetize user data is rising. After the huge wave of ad-sponsored “Web 2.0” websites, these new business models might be the core of what could be “Web 3.0.”

Paid services are particularly advantageous for small providers and start-ups because you don’t need to reach a “critical mass”. You can survive on the subscriptions of your customers, even if you have a comparably small niche market. That’s why this potential Web 3.0 could be more diverse – and less monopolistic – than what we see now. Babbel 2.0 is one step in that direction. We hope that many users take that step with us.

Comments

He spotted a Sears snow cruiser that was only made from 1965 to
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Percy on June 16, 2015 at 2:35 pm

And thus it is that even if the krazy coupon lady at the front might take a bit longer to
check out than they should, even if the sight should inspire a feeling of annoyance in the patiently waiting line, it doesn’t change the fact that everyone there can’t help but feel a little bit
of jealousy when they bear witness to the extreme couponing before
them. If there are friends around that would not mind letting you use their computer then print the coupons that
you need from theirs. 3) In store sales costs as pertains to food: Again, nothing you
can do about this.

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walmart oil change prices on February 1, 2015 at 1:05 pm

I can’t get access to the lessons even after payment for 3 months terms

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Natalie on August 3, 2014 at 3:19 pm

Hi Natalie – please send an email to support@babbel.com with the details and they will be able to help you.

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Babbel on August 4, 2014 at 3:35 pm

Helo send turkish pleas

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jafarazizi on April 13, 2013 at 5:22 pm

I would like to learn German so tell me in canadian dollars how much it would cost me per month and how do I pay you. Thank you ReNee St-Denis

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ReNee St-Denis on March 3, 2013 at 8:43 pm

Hi Renee,

Thanks for your interest in our German lessons. An overview of our price list is provided here
Best regards

Flora
Babbel Team

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Babbel on March 18, 2013 at 12:46 pm

I would really like it if you didnt charge. IM ok with adds

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ME on May 19, 2012 at 11:08 pm

Hi,

Thanks for your feedback. The majority of our users prefers to learn without being interrupted by ads. We made a big survey a few years ago and we definitely won’t change the ad-free model. Sorry

Best,
Marvin

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Marvin on May 23, 2012 at 5:48 pm

[…] is ditching the part-free hybrid model because it “just doesn’t work”. As founder Markus Witte writes: “It simply is not possible to build a high-quality online learning environment while […]

Why have people set-up an account and then tell them there is a charge. I do like your site, but will not be using it because of the charge.

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genny on July 26, 2011 at 10:45 am

Of course ads distract, it’s the whole point to get some of the user’s attention while they are focusing on something (preferably, something thematically related).

The arguments against ads apply equally to any service on the Internet whether this is plain search, doing email online, networking with others online, etc.

Maybe many of these decisions are example of companies that use a community to grow initially, then when their user base is deemed large enough, change the terms. Sure, sometimes the terms have to be slightly modified, but to change them fundamentally – to me – is an abuse of the trust relation between the users and the owners of the service.

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Marko on March 11, 2011 at 2:29 pm

i’m imene from algeria and i like this learning program

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imene on July 2, 2010 at 3:41 pm

My school would like to use Babbel. Is there a school licensing available????

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Joan Taber on May 27, 2010 at 6:21 pm

Hello Joan,

Yes there are special rates for education institutions. You can just send an email to sales@babbel.com.

Best,
markus

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Markus on June 1, 2010 at 5:52 pm

but you should definitely keep developing in more languages, and maybe can put those system in different languages:)
say if Im from China, I should be available to use Chinese to learn French. so far i am using English to learn the language. not sure is it because I am in the UK or because it’s normal for the programme.
I want to introduce my fs in China who would like to study Spanish to use it!!!

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sarahLIN on May 19, 2010 at 1:34 pm

it’s such a good service, i am using it to learn French and it’s entertaining.. and fun….I can’t leave my eyes off it once i started the course.
I felt successful watching the green processing bar keep going from the begining to the end. So much fun!

Thank you Babbel making this software. the price is absolutely affordable especially after comparing to RosettaStone, which I wanted to buy at first. so, woowoo!

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sarahlin on May 19, 2010 at 1:29 pm

[…] last week that language learning company Babbel had its first profitable quarter (notably after abandoning the freemium model) point to education technology as a promising area for tech […]

Your discussion on the online ads are absolutely true and I must agree with you regarding it. Ads seldom prove good while considering education or learning a new language. I think your ideas and methods would result in a better learning methodology.

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margaret on December 14, 2009 at 12:24 pm

[…] Now what does all this mean? Well, first of all it does not seem to have worked out the way it had been planed. What I like about this email is that eduFire is honest enough to name it. Reminds me of the great blog post of Markus Witte of Babbel when he announced that Babbel is dumping…. […]

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eduFire suspends the SuperPass from January 1st 2010 | Kirsten Winkler on December 11, 2009 at 12:38 am

[…] Markus Witte, co-founder of the language learning portal Babbel, wrote on their blog about adjusting their business model: Our plan, in fact, was to partially finance Babbel with advertising. We intended to provide a […]

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Charging for software in the age of web apps | Ben Werdmuller on November 16, 2009 at 12:05 am

You are courageous. There is so many free learning stuff in the internet, so your new concept may not work. Or only for people who want just learn without a lot of internet searching…
Just have a look at Google web applications – they are free and successful. Have a look at the news market like WELT, SPIEGEL, FOCUS (and let’s not forget Google News), they newspaper market is declining, and nobody want to pay for news on the internet. So why should one pay for language learning content?
I just setup an BABBEL account and did the one, free lesson. My conclusion: the lesson was far too easy (is there some level test?), and I am not able to save the learned vocabulary (no copy/past possible). The test did not convince me to become a paying member.

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Hans-Peter on November 11, 2009 at 6:30 pm

In my opinion, Web3.0 is the concept of putting (web) applications on top of other applications. Think of a babbel Facebook application for example…

That said, I’m glad that babbel is heading in the right direction.

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Andreas Roedl on November 11, 2009 at 3:30 pm

You guys are on the right way 😉 Congrats and good luck for the future.

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Tatjana on November 11, 2009 at 3:01 pm

I can see this move being damaging.
Although I agree with the essential worry about ads getting in the way of education there are several other moves you could have taken to make babbel financially profitable while not presenting ads to your users or asking them to shell out money to use the service.

You should have taken the sell developer api approach.
You should have expanded on the babbel service and created a pay service for educators to use babbel in schools.

To be able to manage classes and more easily spot how students are doing.

I don’t like how you have compared this move to web3.0, there is nothing new about charging people for services in the way you are doing right now.
The reason why it is not common these days is because its a failed business model.

You really need to figure out who your audience are, figure out possible revenue schemes and expand your service to take advantage of such schemes.
Your revenue will not come from individuals, its a shame you have not spotted this as your site is A+ thus far. Your revenue will come from organizations, governments, educators.

There is a huge problem in the way kids are educated today, its not evolved. Learning languages is a pain in schools. You are in a unique position to change how languages are taught, to help teachers understand students strengths and weaknesses better.

Oh well.

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mrmcq2u on November 10, 2009 at 4:34 pm

[…] Markus Witte, the Managing Director of Babbel wrote a long and detailed blog post on this decision that will of course heat up some discussions between the free users of the platform. First reactions of other companies like VidSchool and busuu on TechCrunch Europe blog are not what one would call “shocked”. […]

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There is no free lunch - Babbel goes Premium | Kirsten Winkler on November 10, 2009 at 3:57 pm